Someday
by Bad Company
Summary: One Shot. Christmas 1999. Chibs/Maggie fluff for the holiday.


**Someday**

By Bad Company

Disclaimer: I don't own the Sons, Charming, etc…just Maggie and Ava.

**AN: This is just a oneshot that came to me the other night. I was helping Mom with the tree and it just hit me. It isn't part of the Blood, White and Blue sequel, but fits into the span of time between Ava's birth and present day. No action. Pure fluff.**

**Merry Christmas to all my readers – or Happy Holiday season if X-mas isn't your thing. I appreciate all the support and feedback to my stories immensely. Fanfiction has really helped me cope with a tough time after being forced to quit my job, so thank you to all of you. You guys are wonderful!**

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**1999**

**Three Weeks Before Christmas**

"So…I had a nice time," Maggie said with a shrug, feeling like an awkward teenager after a first date. Well, it _was _a first date, sort of. She'd been doing the books at a legal firm for about two months now. No bean counting, just keeping track of appointments and fetching coffee and reminded the three attorneys in the partnership that they had meetings with so-and-so and whats-his-face at some o' clock. It wasn't exactly a fulfilling job, but it put food on their table. And now that Dad was dead, they needed all the financial help they could get. She'd been content to mind her own business and rack up paychecks and then Greg had asked her out.

Greg was fresh out of law school and looking to make partner, all neatly gelled hair and million-watt smile. He wore suits and wing tips and it had taken her awhile to quit wrinkling her nose at the sound of his name. Greg. Kinda made him sound like a pussy. Then again, she had become far too familiar with guys who had dog names.

Greg had been after her for weeks, told her she had a beautiful smile, made kind remarks about the picture of Ava perched on the edge of her desk. It had been five or six weeks since she'd seen Chibs and she was on edge, badly in need of a good lay. Not to mention strung out like a recovering addict in the emotional department. Going for such long periods without seeing him, talking to him, hearing that brogue in her ear was starting to take its toll on her psyche. Her mother kept telling her to go on a date for Christ's sake so she'd taken Greg up on his offer.

They'd had seafood at a restaurant at the foot of the Space Needle, walked through the light winter drizzle under the same umbrella, and now stood on the front step of her bungalow. Maggie fished her keys out of her bag and gave him a curious look, wondering what he would do here. She wanted, scratch that, _needed _for certain parts of her aching body to be touched and she wondered if Greg was up for that. Wondered if she was.

"Dinner was lovely," Greg said, flashing that brilliant smile again.

Maggie should have been weak in the knees, instead she just kept finding herself disappointed that he didn't have dimples. "Yeah," she tried to return the smile. She took a deep breath, almost hating herself for taking this next step. "I picked up some cognac the other night if you're interested. I would just need to make sure Allison headed out okay…put Ava to bed…"

"I'd like that," he smiled again. He took a step closer, his right hand coming up to stroke her shoulder.

Maggie felt…like someone was touching her shoulder, like a cousin or brother had put a hand on her for support. No sparks ignited. She closed the gap between them anyway. She needed to try this, needed to push past the guilt and the heartache. God knew Chibs wasn't holding back on the Crow Eaters at home…

She stepped up on her toes and met his lips with hers. Greg was still at first, and then slowly started moving his mouth over hers, but gently. There was no probing of his tongue, no heavy gasps for breath as he consumed her. He did not taste her, did not crush her body into his, didn't take the dominant role. And Maggie thought she might as well have been kissing a Trout. She felt nothing, absolutely nothing. She'd had two truly amazing lovers in her lifetime and this felt like going back to basics, like putting the training wheels back on her bike.

Her cell rang and she reacted out of instinct. She shoved away from Greg, hand already thrusting into the depths of her purse in search of the gargantuan Nokia. She hated the cell with its bulky battery and slide-out antenna, but she'd thought it smart with Ava starting school. And now, this time of night, caught up in her own head like she was, she had this sudden hope that it was Chibs.

She flipped it open. "Baby?" she questioned automatically, breathless. Her heart started hammering, her female center suddenly damp at the prospect of hearing his voice.

"Maggie?" her mother sighed on the other end. "Jesus, girl, this is getting real old."

Maggie sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. She told her mother goodnight after assuring there was no impending emergency and then slipped her phone back in her bag. Greg was staring at her.

"Sorry," she said quickly, trying to get her sudden fluster under control. She scrounged up a smile. "Where were we?"

He sighed. "I could tell you weren't feeling it," he gestured to his lips. "Am I that unattractive?"

She was guilty over not reacting to him, but oddly relieved. "No, it's just…"

"I'm not 'baby'?"

"I'm sorry," she repeated. "Really."

"Who were you hoping it was?"

"Honestly…Ava's father."

Greg's eyebrows shot up. "If there's still feelings, why isn't he here, Maggie? How could he leave you alone?" he gestured up and down her frame with his hands. "Pardon my French, but he must be an idiot."

She smiled sadly. "It's a very long, very complicated story."

"I've got time to listen."

"No you don't," she put a hand on his arm. "I really did have a lovely time tonight, Greg, but-,"

"I should go," he nodded. He gave her a peck on the cheek and then saw himself off the front stoop. "You know," he called as he retreated. "If it had been me, I could never have left you alone."

Maggie sighed. That was irrelevant.

She let herself in, closed the door and dropped her keys on the hall table. She could hear the low rumble of the TV and walked into the living room. "Hey, Ally, everything go okay…" she trailed when she realized that her regular babysitter wasn't there, a man was.

"You've gotta get a hotter nanny, Mags," a familiar, raspy voice commented from the couch.

Her sudden panic left her in a rush. "Jesus, Hap, what'd you do to her?"

Happy chuckled. "Sent her home. Poor kid had fallen asleep in the pizza box."

Maggie sighed again, this time letting go of some of the day's tension. She slipped off her wool pea coat and tossed it over the arm of the recliner, joining the Tacoma VP on the sofa. It was imperative that the IRA not know her whereabouts, but she still needed looking after, or so the men in her life thought. Tacoma was the closest charter to Seattle so Happy and his crew were the ones to check in on her from time to time.

"I didn't expect you back so soon."

He shrugged. He looked downright terrifying in the bluish glow from the TV. "Couple of the guys and me had business up north, thought I'd stop in and raid your fridge…check on the kid."

Ava adored him, called him "Uncle Happy" and everything. Poor kid had no chance at a normal love life.

"She asleep?"

"Like a baby."

Maggie nodded and slouched sideways, letting her head rest on his shoulder. She hadn't really thought about it, but she'd become pretty attached to him too. In this world of mist and trench coats, Hap was the last life line to home…to Chibs. And if nothing else, she didn't have to be somebody else around him. She got to be a foul-mouthed, European rock nut with Happy.

"Kid said you had a date?"

"You could say that."

"He get lucky?"

"Unfortunately no," she frowned in the dim light. "I had the gun at the ready, just couldn't pull the trigger."

"You still feel guilty." Not a question.

"Yeah," she said softly. "That's most of it. But part of it's…"

"What?"

"I dunno. It's like…these guys just don't do it for me, there's no animal in them." She felt herself blush. "Jesus, I sound like some horny teenager."

"You'd feel better if you got laid."

"Hell yes, but…"

Happy put a finger under her chin and turned her face around so she was looking at him. His brown eyes had turned almost black in the dark.

He wasn't being romantic, wasn't coming on to her, but when Maggie looked into those obsidian eyes, she found a little bit of what she'd been looking for, what she hadn't seen in the pretty boys down at the office. The animal. It was stronger in Happy than in Chibs, hell, than in Tig. It was pure, raw sex and dangerous intentions. God, she missed her baby's daddy, but she missed that act that had created her too. She missed lips and tongue on her neck, on her breasts, on lower regions. She missed the feel of rough hands on her softest, most sensitive spot, missed digging her nails into hard shoulders. And oh man, Hap was just looking at her. So close. He wouldn't be her man, he wouldn't fill up that void in her heart, but he would fuck her good and hard and have her begging for more. His eyes promised that. A helluva good time.

She closed her eyes, wanting to pretend he was someone else, and kissed him.

There was the briefest of moments where everything was still, like he was trying to figure out what the hell she'd just done. Then he was on her.

Happy had one hand tangled in her hair, the other hooked through her belt and pulling her across the space that still separated them before she could come to her senses. He kissed with a lot of tongue, forced her mouth open and demanded entry, nipping at her bottom lip and tongue.

Maggie came undone, pushed into him, willing his hand lower with her mind. She pressed her breasts into his chest, her nipples popping to life and demanding to be loosed from the confines of her bra. She just wanted to melt, to get closer to him than was humanly possible. She traced a hand down the hard, chiseled expanse of his chest, down over his washboard abs, going for the hem of his shirt.

He deepened the kiss further if it was possible. He was far from gentle, not asking, but telling her how things were to progress. She was ecstatic. His hand migrated from her belt to the front of her jeans, slipped inside, fingers touching her through the black cotton of her panties. Her breath caught, she felt like she might explode…

And then just as suddenly as it had started, it stopped. Happy pulled back, let go of her completely, their lips coming apart with a wet smack. Her body was screaming and she realized that she growled at their separation. "Dear, God, please," she whispered, reaching for him.

Hap, not surprisingly, wasn't rattled. He looked cold, dark eyes narrowed. He put a hand on each of her shoulders and held her back. "No, little girl," he said roughly. "It's not right."

"Fuck right!" she was desperate, tears stinging the backs of her eyes. "I can't…I can't…"

"Stop," he commanded. "You're an Old Lady, Maggie. And you have his _kid_. This can never happen."

The truth hurt, bad. She fell apart, slumped forward and he let her rest her forehead against his chest, no longer feeling the arousal in the air. "Why am I so fucked up, Happy? God, this is so embarrassing. I didn't mean…"

"I know," he rubbed her back. "I know it's hard on you. I'm so sorry, kiddo."

**Christmas Eve**

Maggie rooted through the fridge one last time, coming to the frustrating conclusion that there was indeed no eggnog. She let the door flop shot and put her hands on her hips, glancing sideways at her mother. Diane seemed to be having some sort of mild panic attack.

In their years spent in Seattle, Diane had flown back to Illinois every Christmas to see her side of the family. Maggie had always staunchly refused to go; nobody, but NOBODY was getting her ass off the west coast, not so long as a certain Scotsman still lived within driving distance. Diane had grown tired of making the journey alone and had agreed to stay in Seattle this year. Alan's former frat brother, the Cardio God they like to call him, had steered her towards a grief counseling group after her husband passed, and Diane had made fast friends with six of the other widows there. She had invited them all to their first Seattle Christmas and wanted badly to impress her friends. The festivities were being held at Maggie and Ava's two-bedroom bungalow.

"You a'ight, Mom?" Maggie asked, watching her mother measure out beef broth for the rice casserole.

"Fine," Diane snapped. "You plug in all the lights?"

Maggie rolled her eyes. The Christmas tree in the living room hadn't been enough. They had lit garland on the stoop railing out front, the bare crepe myrtles wrapped as well. "Yes, mother," she sighed, taking a potholder off its peg by the stove so she could retrieve their dessert. Diane had wanted to make some sort of bread pudding shit, but Maggie had put her foot down about the gingerbread cookies. They were Ava's favorite.

As if on cue, the four-year-old came tromping into the room, feet swallowed up in a pair of Maggie's Converse All Stars, her favorite stuffed bunny clutched haphazardly in one arm. "Cookies?" she asked, button nose scrunching up in delight at the familiar smell.

"For later," Maggie emphasized the words.

Ava came up behind her mother anyway, brown eyes wide and sparkling with delight over the little gingerbread men with cinnamon candy buttons. Her dark hair was a tangle; she never liked Maggie to brush it. She wore leggings and a green sweatshirt silk-screened with Rudolph from the old stop-motion movie. "Just one now, please?"

Maggie always had trouble resisting those dimples…just like her daddy's. "I dunno, Ava…"

"Please please please please PLEASE!"

"Don't let her whine, Margaret," Diane fussed.

Maggie and her daughter shared the 'Grandma's Crazy' look they'd adopted as soon as Ava had gotten old enough to understand. Maggie winked and popped an arm off one of the cookies, sliding it to Ava soundlessly. She popped it in her mouth and grinned, Telford dimples flashing at maximum cuteness.

Before long, Diane's friends were arriving and the living room was quickly filled with chattering, wine-drinking women in their forties to sixties. They discussed the weather and the local thrift stores and other things that made Maggie want to yawn. They offered her pleasant smiles as she walked around with the red and chardonnay, topping off glasses and fielding their condolences that she was alone for the holidays. She was seriously starting to think that her mother had told them all she was a widow too, rather than fess to her biker.

The afternoon passed calmly, the roast was almost done judging by the smells that wafted from the kitchen. Maggie went in to check the timer and found Ava sliding a kitchen chair over toward the counter, making a go at the cookies.

"Oh no, young lady," she laughed, moving the chair and earning a pouty lip. "You've got to eat dinner first…" She trailed off when she registered a familiar, but unexpected sound outside her house. She stepped to the doorway between kitchen and living room and watched as her mother's face visibly paled. She too had recognized the rumble of a motorcycle.

"Margaret," Diane said in an overly polite tone. "You didn't happen to invite any additional guests, did you?" Several of the friends were looking between the two of them, suddenly curious.

Maggie frowned. "No…"

Her front door burst open and Ava squealed in delight. "Uncle Happy!!" she exclaimed breaking into a run and nearly going down in the oversized shoes.

Happy stood in the open doorway and flung open his arms in an uncharacteristic display of affection. He picked up Ava and held her against his hip as if she were still a baby. "Hey, kiddo," he said, his gravely voice actually earning some frightened looks from the other women. Ava kissed him on the cheek, beaming. She sure did have a thing for Uncle Happy.

Maggie folded her arms and leaned against the doorframe, withholding her pleased smirk. She knew her mother absolutely hated this. Speak of the devil…

"Maggie!" Diane hissed, coming across the room and tossing her daughter a fierce scowl. "What's this?"

He shrugged. "I dunno. Guess Hap was looking for a place to crash for the holiday."

Happy had come fully into the house now, still holding Ava, and some of the ladies from the widows group had covered their mouths in shock and distress. One of the older ones looked like she might be having heart palpitations at the sight of the big bad biker. Maggie had to admit, if she had wanted a scary Son to crash her party, she couldn't have picked a better one.

"S'up, Hap?" she asked, leaning around her fuming mother. "You here for the chow?"

He grinned and slowly set Ava down. "Actually…" she could have sworn one of those dark eyes winked. "I was escortin' a brother through town."

Maggie arched her brows in question. Happy stepped to the side, giving her a clear view of her still-open front door and the man who came walking through it. It took a nanosecond for her mind to come to the conclusion that she was not hallucinating. That dark hair. That Glasgow Smile. Goddamn shades on in the middle of Seattle. He'd come. Her Chibs had come.

All the room's occupants and their fresh terror at seeing another leather-clad man in the house faded into the periphery. She was dimly aware of tripping over something in her haste, heard Ava yell "Daddy!" at the top of her lungs in that shocked, innocent way only little girls can. And then she was there, in his arms, face buried at the base of his throat, feeling the life get forced out of her by his embrace. She slid her arms around him under his cut, inhaled that leather, motor-oil and road dust smell of him. It took her a moment to realize that she was bawling her eyes out.

"Oh, baby…oh, Jesus, you're here…" she whispered through her tears, still not believing it.

"Easy, darlin'," he tried to chuckle and it just turned to more of a moan. God, the sound of his voice nearly had her ripping off his clothes right there in front of everyone. "Oh, luv, I've missed you," he whispered into the top of her head.

And then Ava was at their legs, tugging and demanding a bit of attention. He let go of Maggie only so that he could pick up their daughter. "Hey, hey, sweetheart," he hefted Ava up and she kissed his scarred cheek, wrapping her little arms around his neck.

Seeing the two of them together, their similarities so obvious side by side as they were, Maggie nearly lost it again. She put a hand over her trembling lips, dashing at her tears with her other. She felt someone at her shoulder and glanced sideways to find Happy.

"Merry Christmas, kiddo," he gave her a peck on the cheek.

She nodded, not able to form words to explain how grateful she was. He nodded back. Guys like Hap didn't need the words, he just knew.

***

Maggie dashed the brush across the dish in her hand and passed it to her mother. Scrape and rinse. Scrape and rinse. She'd never been in such an all-fire hurry to get the dishes cleaned up.

All but one of Diane's friends had called it a night; the remaining one too plastered to drive. She sat at the kitchen table, hands wrapped around a coffee mug, waiting on Diane to drive her home. Chibs and Ava were in the living room, Ava watching TV and Chibs watching her like she might disappear if he took his eyes off of her. Maggie heard their voices and quickened her pace, the dish she was working on slipping and clanging against the sink edge.

"Maggie," Diane sighed, pulling the plate from her daughter's hands.

Maggie looked up and caught her mother's glance, prepared for a reprimand. Instead, she found the glimmer of unshed tears on her eyes. "Mom?"

"You…" Diane swallowed hard, voice thick. "You should go in there with them."

"But-,"

"You don't get many chances to see him, sweetheart. You really want to spend that time washing dishes with me?"

Maggie rinsed the suds off her hands and pulled her mother into a tight hug. Diane patted her back.

When she joined them on the sofa, Maggie could tell that Ava was reaching that peak of incoherent babble that always came right before she fell asleep. Crash and burn time. She had her arms and head in Chibs' lap, playing with his wallet chain and reciting her list for Santa in sleepy tones.

He lifted the arm on his other side for Maggie as she sat down next to him, curling it around her hip once she'd settled. Maggie toed off her pumps and folded her legs up on the sofa, resting all her weight against Chibs' side.

"Hey, luv," he kissed her temple, nuzzled her ear.

Maggie leaned into the caress, the heat and the crippling need she'd felt a few weeks before coming back full force. Only stronger. This was her Chibs and she knew what those lips, those hands could do to her. She put a hand on his chest, pushing lightly. He arched his brows and gave her a curious half-smile.

Maggie nodded toward Ava. "Ah," he said softly. "Bedtime?"

"No," Ava said matter-of-factly. "Not for another hour, right, Mama?"

"Right, baby."

Ava grinned up at Chibs. She was still young enough to think that her father walked on water. She hadn't seen him very often, but Maggie showed her pictures religiously, talked about him as if he were a part of their daily lives. Emails and phone calls helped, but it still amazed both of her parents that the little girl identified with him.

Chibs brushed her messy, dark hair off her forehead, as always delighted that her eyes looked exactly like his. Maggie on one side, Ava on the other, the colored lights from the Christmas tree bathing their faces in a festive glow. He was in heaven.

***

Ava went to bed promptly at nine, insisting that Daddy tuck her in since he was in town. Diane chose that moment to make her escape, kissing Maggie on the cheek but shaking her head. She had learned not to press the Chibs issue, but she still didn't have to like it.

Maggie debated going back to her bedroom and slipping into something red and lacey, but realized that wasn't necessary when Chibs came back into the living room. He had beamed at seeing Ava, but wore a whole different smile now. Maggie sat up on her knees when he reached the couch, arms sliding around his waist and pulling him down with her. Without prying eyes, he could thoroughly kiss her this time; taste every part of her mouth, reacquaint his hands with her curves. Maggie moved into him, climbing up into his lap. She took hold of his hand that was at her waist and moved it to the front of her dark jeans, pushing his fingers gently down between her legs.

"Jesus, baby," he said against her lips, stroking her through the denim and earning a small moan of pleasure for his efforts. "I didn't know you were so wound up."

She broke the kiss long enough to search his face. If Happy had tattled about their little incident on the couch, Chibs' face didn't show it. She traced one of his scars with her thumb and leaned back into him, nipping at his bottom lip. "I'm _always _wound up," she said between kisses.

"Well, let's fix that," he said. He slid his hands under her sweater and peeled the garment up over her head. She lifted her arms to make the task easier, effectively thrusting her breasts up into his face. "Ooh," he chuckled, pressing his palms against the cups of her bra. "Leopard."

***

Maggie knew that at some point they'd have to migrate to the bedroom or risk Ava finding them wrapped up naked in the old quilt over the back of the couch the next morning. The girl would not sleep late on Christmas morning. But for the moment, Maggie was more than content to lie across his chest, staring lazily at the Christmas tree. It was decorated with colored lights, red strands of beads, and a hodge-podge of old family ornaments from her childhood back in Arizona. She was decidedly not Martha Stewart.

Chibs stroked her hair in an unconscious gesture, over and over, liking the feel of it. He had Crow Eaters back home to take the edge off, but there was never any holding. Definitely no combing their hair with his fingers.

"I'm sorry," he said finally, words rumbling in his chest against her ear.

"For what?" she asked, only because she wanted to hear his response. She didn't care what he said, just needed to hear his voice.

"Leaving you alone so much," he said. "It's not fair to you…to Ava…I wish you were home with me. In Charming."

"I wish that too, baby, but you know it can't work."

"Aye," he sighed. "McKeevy got curious the last time I was up here. Started asking questions."

"Of course he did." She frowned. This wasn't how she wanted to spend their time together, talking about the Irish. "I'm glad you came though."

"Really?" there was a humored edge to his words.

"Um, I think I just proved that point," she counted off on her fingers ", three times just now, don't you think?"

He chuckled.

"Seriously, Chibs, I don't think I could have planned a better Christmas."

He snorted. "Guess this isn't the best time to tell you I didn't get you a present, huh?"

He had meant it as a joke but she was all serious when she craned her neck up to look at him. "Yes you did," she said firmly.

He frowned, clueless.

Maggie pressed a kiss against his chest with a little eye roll. "You're my present."

Chibs sighed again. "One of these days, I'm gonna make all of this up to you."

"It doesn't have to be tonight," she said softly. "Just…just be with me now."

"I know, luv. But I swear. Someday."

They settled back to silence, staring at the tree, both wondering when that someday might actually come. Until then, Maggie supposed she would always have her memories and the occasional Christmas Eve in his arms.

**The End**


End file.
